-Clean Cut-
by T.T. Bloom
Summary: Nicole is a woman that's worked hard for everything she has, and made a lot of credibility for herself over the past year since moving to Gotham; not without a long road of drama, corruption, and romance however. Where/whom will her enigmatic path lead her to? Is there more to her story than she'd like to make known?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So I've been reading fics on this board pretty much since the first episode, but this is my first time writing for it! I've written fics on other sites in the past, mostly Dark Knight universe, so this is going to be interesting portraying the characters while staying true to the Gotham back stories.**

 **I don't want to go about this one that way. So along with what I have planned for my characters and the story, I want to put it out there that I'm more than open to take plot & event suggestions from you guys. So this first chapter takes place either midway or the ending (I ain't telling you which) of the story, it introduces a lot of development before anything even really happens! **

**I've pretty much have the plot structure and what kind of story I want to convey down, but that doesn't mean I cant include things along the way or even take it a completely different direction :)**

 **Regardless if you're ghosting or contributing, I hope you guys enjoy the read!**

* * *

The piano notes were softly floating in the background, around the room were elegant cocktail dresses and tailor fitted suits chatting and laughing. The newly opened Iceberg Lounge was highly exclusive and sought after by not only the elite of Gotham, but the highly accredited criminals. The building itself was a restored meat processing plant but you'd never guess by the lavish ballroom in its center; surrounded by three levels of balconies, bars, and rooms lined with dark red carpet and crystal railings and barriers that matched with accents inside the building, giving off a resemblance of ice itself. Cobblepot had really outdone himself with this one… never had she seen so many people from different backgrounds and statuses in one room without someone being shot. She couldn't imagine someone making such a scene in a place where the rich and corrupt go to negotiate and socialize, under the watch of so many of penguins gang.

She made her way over to the bar on the wall across the main floor that was currently flooded with people. Crowds had always made her uneasy, not because she felt unsafe but because she preferred observing from the outside. There was a lot to be studied at an event like this. Propping herself up on the stool at the edge of the bar, she asks the man in the vest for an old-fashioned. While waiting, she took the time to adjust her quickly done outfit change and pulled on the hem of the wine colored dress she was gifted for the night, it was a relatively modest dress with a high scoop-neck and lace detail quarter sleeves. However it hugged her frame tightly… something she wasn't accustomed to after trading in her chef coat and loose pants only moments ago. The tap of the glass being set in front of her took her out of her trance of wondering if her butt was unknowingly peeking out when she was standing. Nicole took a sip, feeling the whiskey burn down her throat before the sweetness followed, truly giving a meaning to self-medication.

She peered over across the bar, observing the socialites, that she had grown to know over the past year since moving here. Gotham was another world compared to Chicago, if she had thought the crime rate back home was bad, Gotham makes no comparison. As a strategist, she was adjusting at a steady pace and had made a quite credible background for herself. Standing next to one of the tall glass tables with a couple wine glasses rested on it, a groomed stocky man in a red tie was frowning at the lanky man who seemed to be entering his personal space. From further inspection, she could tell that they were both speaking low and shooting daggers at each other, she noticed the stocky man had slowly moved his hand to his belt on his hip.

'I suppose the night is still young…' she thought.

Nicole took her glass with her as she swayed over to the two men, choosing to play the role of the young, clumsy, feminine girl. She turned her head and pretended to be laughing and walking away from a conversation before stumbling into the stocky man.

"Oh my… How graceless of me, I'm sorry!" She set her hand empathetically on his shoulder.

The man huffed, annoyed to be taken aback from the matter at hand. You could tell he was close to threatening whatever woman had bumped into him, before looking down and recognizing her face, "Don't worry sweetheart! Say, I was going to tell you; fantastic job on the dinner this evening!"

Both of the men's tension had subsided and were captivated by the talented, beautiful woman. The lanky man, who she had also seen at a few dinners before smiled. "Oh yeah! I really enjoyed the beef ragu, the wine pairing highlighted the depth of the truffle gastrique."

She took another sip of her drink, glad that she could diffuse the situation. It was more often than not that she noticed the signs of conflict before they even happen now days. By now she had really grown on the city and even though she liked to remain impartial with the good and the bad, will stealthily involve herself whether it ended with a good outcome or not. She was never quite the pacifist either.

"Thank you guys so much, I'm glad you enjoyed the menu," she smiled graciously "Hey, if you tell the man in the chef whites over there I said 'spoonblade' he will sneak you some to-go boxes on the way out." She pointed across the room.

The men chuckled and thanked her for the insider tip, both seemed to have forgotten the hot topic from before. Nicole shook their hands and made her way back to the end of the bar, shaking hands and small talking with some of those along the way. She sat back down on the stool, crossed her legs, and took another sip. Events like this she was cordial and respectful to those only as much as she needed to be.

After directing her kitchen in the back to execute the horduerves and small plates out on time, she really just wanted to sit down for a drink and let the stress melt away on her own. She tucked some strands behind her ear and realized that her hair was still tied up in a rather unattractive bun. Nicole let down her pale blonde hair, thankful for curling it ahead of time, and ran her fingers through it, hoping to make it at least a little presentable. She finished off her glass and scooted it over to the edge of the bar. After a while of watching the attendants of the party, her hopes were wavering. She knew he must've been in attendance somewhere; after all he was a major partner alongside Cobbblepot himself.

'Maybe he left already… or something came up.'

She sighed, stood up from the stool, and looked down to adjust her dress. The possibility was passing and she was considering leaving soon. There was about four highly stacked folders waiting on her counter at home and must be reviewed by morning. These past few days had been highly stressful to all the staff at Arkham, as they were trying to recover from the recent events that shook the doctors and put the GCPD on high alert. The files she needed to scan through were extensive to the ex-patient, Gordon was counting on her to be able to find something linking to an explanation of what just took place.

'Alright, one more shot couldn't hurt.'

Nicole signaled for the straight to the bartender and then rested her arms on the bar. Sudden anxiousness washed over her… there was no way he'd be capable of captivating him, right?

The expensive whiskey had a slow burn down her throat, soothing a bit of the anxiety. She reached for her purse and turned back around ready to head back. When she looked up she instantly made eye contact. He was at the front of the room by Penguin's side and a charming smile rose on his face. His fitted dark grey suit paired with a deep green tie looked rather flattering on him, he took a sip from his champagne glass and gave her a subtle wink. Nicole smiled back, relieved that he had made it to the grand opening okay, and gave a little wave. Penguin noticed her as well and nudged the tall man's shoulder and leaned up to whisper something in his ear. Her eyes left his for a moment only to catch the face of a very unexpected guest that was blending in with a dark tailored suit, however well he had cleaned up, there was no mistaking his bright red hair slightly peeking out from the thin lapelled hat on his head.

'What does he think he's doing here…' a wave of trepidation and conflicting solace fell over her.

The bright haired man smiled from across the bar, keeping his head low, was finishing off his drink. His plan would be falling into place soon, he was taking all his strength to hold back laughter... but there was something else he was straining to hold back, at the sight of Nicole, he felt this over whelming feeling he couldn't quite put into words. Fighting this sense of endearment, the flash of vulnerability quickly changed to opposition.

Even though there was a wide grin on his face, the eyes peering over the glass at her were dark and almost… scary. Why was he there? Is he trying to get maimed? Why does he look so angry with her? He calmly set his empty glass on the bar, rose from his seat, and just stood there tall staring back at her with his hands in his pockets and a proud smirk on his face. Nicole's eyes widened and her softly arched brow raised with inquisition and fear for him. Fear of his boldness. Fear for what was to come. Fear for his safety.

She glanced back over across the room to the tall dark haired man who was obviously enthused and making his way through the crowd over to her. The lights were dim and the man with the bright hair kept low, but his eyes never left hers as he coyly dipped through the guests on the path to the woman in the wine colored dress that flaunted all the right curves. His immediate thought was 'Who gave her such an amusing dress? This person must know her body quite…too well.', knowing that Nicole herself would never buy a dress that provocative, little alone one so pricey looking. He knew that she did dress tastefully, but still preferred being comfortable. The man picked up his pace and was zoning in quickly.

As she stood there, frozen and unsure what to do, the tall man had reached her and gently grasped her hip with a bright smile gracing his face.

"Do you approve the dress?" he asked lowly. There was no response. Noticing her gaze, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and chuckled, "Ms. Nicole, I know it's not quite your taste but I wanted to showcase to you that-". Suddenly his gaze met that of what she was staring at, stopping mid-sentence.

Her heart had raced so much in such a little of time by now that she was sure that it had just stopped beating, at least she wished. The face of the fiery man was infuriated but this time wasn't looking into her eyes, but directly into those of the man standing beside her.

"What, aren't you happy to see me?"

She had no idea about what was about to happen, other than hell will be raised, people will die, and that she would be lucky to make it out alive herself.


	2. August 2005

_**Alrighty guys, now is where our story technically begins! I'm taking it back to the 00's where we get to see the roots of some of our main characters. This story is going to have a few time jumps and skips in between, but this chapter is where it all starts. I will say that this story is going to be slightly AU and take place LOOSELY following the events in seasons 1, 2, &3\. There were also be hints and undertones from Killing Joke, Jokers Asylum II: the Riddler, and even Nolanverse. Disclaimer: I do not own anything or character from the Batman, Dark Knight, or Gotham Universe.**_

 _ **There's a lot more to come!**_

* * *

August 2005

The summer breeze blew through the forest green curtains of the double paned windows in the great room - two sandy blonde children, both with freckles scattered across their cheeks, were running underneath the fabric as the wind blew it high in the air; the game was to make it to the other side without running into a mouthful of cotton. The giggles and squeals resounded through the big study, their feet skipping around on the dark hardwood floors – making up games like this came so naturally to the duo and there was never a dull moment.

The little girl of the age twelve saw the curtain rise again and took this as her chance and made a break for it, expertly weaving her way across the room as she giggles. As she stood proudly opposite of her older brother of the age 14, she crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue at him.

"There's no way you're gonna be able to make it Alex!" she teased.

"As if, Nicky!" he took this as a challenge. The boy stuck his index finger in his mouth and removed it with a 'pop' of his lips, he raised his (slobbered) hand into the air and pretended like he was checking the wind current.

Alex narrowed his eyes as he watched the air start picking up again. He waited for the peak rise and broke out into a sprint. He was nearing the end, which was only a total of about ten feet away, when suddenly the wind died down and his foot got caught on the hem of the curtain and swept him off his feet. The little girl watched with shock as along with her older brother, the curtain itself was torn off the rod. They both yelled in unison, and she immediately ran over to her brother to check if he was okay. No matter how competitive they got, Nicole always looked up to him as invincible; if he were a superhero she would no doubt be his side kick.

He laid there, unmoving, and asked the important question at hand in a low groan, "Did I look cool at least?"

"Not in the slightest, you dork!"

Alex groaned again, a pained expression on his face. His braces caught a shine in the light.

"Did you break anything?" she asked with growing concern as she knelt beside him.

"Ah.. uh-only my p-pride." He joked, faking agony.

Nicole punched him in the arm before standing up and sighing, she just knew he would say something like that. She turned around to the boy standing up from the pool of torn green fabric at his feet and before she could even finish, "Dad is gonna say-"

"NICOLE! Go to your room!" a loud, booming voice made them flinch in fear behind them.

The small girl looked back at her older brother, who she looked almost a spitting image of, with wide eyes and fear for him. Their dad, who was a big and tall man with dark hair and dull blue eyes, growled at Nicole as a warning to not test his patience. With a last, apologetic look to her brother she ran back out to the living room and up the stairs. Deep down she was a little thankful because she knew he wouldn't do too much damage this time, as they were going out in public later and the last thing the commissioner of the Chicago Police Department needed was to be charged with beating up his son. He never really laid a hand on Nicole despite slaps on the wrist, a few shoves, and that one time he held her throat up against the wall. In her mind though, not only has she rightfully deserved those incidents but they paled in comparison to the punishments her brother received.

They were headed to the circus in town tonight, something they did each year as a family but mostly because it was a policemen's event that was sponsored by the mayor in town in acknowledgement of all the strongminded, kind, hardworking men and women that were on Chicago's law force. The circus was typically in town for 4 months at a time, because of the large city and dense population. As much as Nicole and Alex would beg, they would only go once in lieu of the sponsored event.

Her mother was running a late from work, she was a psychiatrist at the local prison, and Nicole knew it wouldn't be long until she was home so they could leave. So, the little girl held back her tears and put her favorite fluffy purple pillow (the one that blocked out the most sound) over her ears as she tried to drown out the cries of her big brother downstairs.

* * *

The circus was loud and vibrant, the red and white stripes of the tent caught the childrens attention right away along with the various clowns, animals, and acrobats that were practicing around the side of the entrance, making their anticipation and smiles even brighter. Trumpets and cymbals played melodically with the banging of the drums – the music getting louder as they neared the tent. The sparkling eyes of the young girl were drawn to the scene outside of a trailer that a door had just slammed open to.

Her pace slowed and she watched as a young boy, probably around her brothers age, was thrown out followed by the scolding of an older man wearing a greasy wife beater and bright purple pants – his chest hair was overgrown and curly and he flicked his cigarette at the boy before adjusting his bright red round nose and slamming the door behind him.

The boy stood up and dusted himself off as he sighed and turned around. Nicole froze as she caught sight of him; he had light green eyes, the beginnings of a well defined jaw (despite his age), disheveled straight red hair, and was wiping a bit of blood off his swollen pouted lips. Sure, she was starting to get to the age where she noticed cute boys but something about him was very outstanding to her.

She knew that what she had just witnessed was certainly none of her business - her father always said that it was rude to stare and would earn herself a black eye. But she couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of curiosity and pity. This was one of the first times Nicole had ever heard of or seen another child being physically punished like way that her brother was. All of her friends, including Carly, had come from very normal and affectionate homes. It kind of gave her a strange sense of security seeing the boy wipe the dirt off his scraped elbows. In fact, she felt the need almost to… protect him, like she did when she ran to take care of her brother after their father left the room.

Just as the boy in the distance made eye contact with her and his eyes went wide, the blonde girl in the green polka-dotted dress, her arm was tugged harshly and pulled away just as quickly to catch up with her family.

"The show is starting soon, little brat." Her father warned.

Once the family was inside and took their seats, the parents were distracted by a co-worker of Eric's, their dad. The lights were still on and the music still played as one of the trainers was practicing with an elephant off center and some of the acrobats were doing stretches. Bored of the underwhelming sight and the sound of her mother's polite laugh, she got to talking to her brother. He had been silent this entire time – hands in his jacket pockets and a sullen look adorned his face along with a faint bruise above his cheek that was covered up by their mother with her makeup.

Wanting to break the tension and get him into a less heavy mood, she spoke up, "Did you just see that trainer, Lexy? He almost slipped in the poop of his own elephant!"

Alex remained stoic.

"You know, one time I fell in Gizmo's poop…" she referred to the neighbors dog, knowing that this would get'em. "Yeah, I was on my way to school when mom was taking you to that dentists and just as I was getting ready to leave the driveway," she was making outrageous hand gestures that reminded Alex of an angry Italian man "Whoop! There I went, slipping on the present left fresh that day from his walk with Mrs. James."

A small smile cracked on his face, even though he was trying hard to repress it.

"Dude you have no idea, mom was too busy watching your drugged up buttface from getting that tooth removed and Dad was at work. I had to go to school that day smelling like rotten dog food and explaining how I managed to get melted chocolate on my book bag!" she exclaimed, motioning her extended hands in the air.

This earned an outburst of hysterical laughter from her brother and soon he was clutching his stomach gasping for air, looking like a regular happy fourteen year old again. Sure, she put a little added graphicness to her embarrassing story but she knew that boys liked gross stuff like that and anything mentioning weird nicknames, boogers, or poop was instantly hilarious. She smiled at the sight of her brother and even though is laughter died down, she could see that he visibly relaxed his shoulders and looked a little less angsty.

Her small proud moment was caught off guard by her mother, motioning her to come over there.

"Hey, if I give you some money can you go grab some peanuts for us?" Her mother leaned down and placed her hand lightly on Nicole's shoulder. Gail was a much calmer woman in comparison to her husband and much kinder to the children, however, she really had no power or say on Eric's part. She knew that she would be punished even worse than the children – after the few times she did intervene.

Nicole nodded and smiled, excited to grab the trademark snacks.

The line for the peanuts was longer than expected. After all, the show was starting any minute and of course everyone waited until the last minute. Nicole was playing with the ends of her hair and tapping a foot impatiently on the dirt in line when the wind picked up – almost taking the hem of her dress with it. She quickly pressed her hands to hold down her dress, sacrificing the dollar had slipped from her fingers that her mother had given her. The wind carried it steadily out of her reach, blew away from the line, and past the carny game booths; the girl weaved through people heading the opposite direction from the tent towards the dark looking forrest. Suddenly, Nicole found herself falling. She rolled through sticks and bushes, screaming while desperately trying to reach for something to stall her. Her small hands finally caught the narrow trunk of a tree that was growing from the steep hill in the woods. Nicole stood up, catching her balance as she looked up the hill she rolled a long ways down… how did she manage to do that? Certainly she wasn't blind! (Despite the many times her father swore she was).

The girl sighed in defeat, unable to even see the dollar anywhere around. Her Maryjane shoes dug into the dirt and grass as she relied on young trees and stones to steady her. Daddy was going to be so upset when he saw her… how dare she go make a mess of herself and the brand new dress her mother bought. His friends on the force were going to think that he had a misfit animal of a daughter or even worse, that he let her act like a misfit animal. She could almost feel the harsh pinching of her ears while he yelled at her. Nicole was thinking of any explanation or problem solving solution she could and she grunted her way back up through the dark brush, following the dim light of the lamp ahead. Maybe she could say that a big hungry elephant smelled the fresh peanuts she had gotten for everyone and ran straight for her; after a long fought battle with it's trunk she was defeated by a swing and sent rolling down the hill as the mammal made off with her snacks. This made her smirk, she was proud of this one. Her innocence and turning typically unfortunate circumstance into something altruistic and fun was probably the only thing that kept her spirits bright in times like this.

"Yes… brilliant!" she said to herself inbetween breaths. Suddenly her trail was halted by the sight of an open palm in front of her. Nicole instantly shrieked and tripped on her own feet, almost falling back down the hill.

"Yeah you're a real Einstein, lady." The voice mumbled as he caught the girls arm just before her butt was back in the dirt and pulled her up with unexpected strength.

Nicole heart raced as she noticed that the guy had thrown her on his back and was making off with her. She instantly began to kick as hard as her short legs could and landed an uppercut to his chin. He instantly dropped her, but she landed on her feet and gave her most intimidating fighting stance.

"Hey calm down, I'm trying to help! You idiot!"

The boy sounded young like her – she noticed that his build was lanky and thin but quite a a few inches taller than her. The looming trees shadowed over the dark silhouette and she was unable to identify him. Confused and need for further inspection, she roughly took the boys' face away from his hands grazing the spot where she had kicked. With his face in between her small hands, she twisted, turned, and pulled until his profile could be caught in the light. Nicole gasped once she found light to his face, which incidentally was inches away from hers.

It was the boy she saw earlier, from one of the circus staff trailers. His skin was pale and had a few, but not as many, freckles like hers. His cheeks were rosy from her moving his face around, there were light blue toned dark circles under his eyes (or maybe the light yellow tint under one was healing from a bruise?), a fresh cut on his bottom lip, and a small welt was beginning to form under his chin from her act of self defense. But above all these small details she was observing awkwardly long amount of time, she remarked upon his eyes. The light from one of the lamps surrounding the property reflected onto him – revealing glinting pale jade-green eyes. They were so vivid that the color reminded her of laser beams from one of her brother's monster/alien movies… but in a good way, she thought. She could see the obvious surprise in his eyes from her being so close, but there was something aside from that that struck her curiosity; it was emotion that wasn't even being portrayed, one that was beneath the surface and that was just embedded into his eyes themselves. But before she could look further into trying to figure out what exactly that was…

"Do you always try to makeout with people that save you from rolling into sewer drains?"

Nicole instantly jumped back, caught off guard by his interruption and the crudeness of his comment. She looked down at her muddy green dress and tried to hide her burning cheeks. The boy looked smug and bemused by her reaction and started laughing.

"Hey I didn't ask for help! Besides, I was just staring at the spider that just crawled up your nose." She turned her back to him, starting back up the hill.

The red haired boy quickly raised a hand to his nose and inconspicuously blew it just to be safe. With no sign of creepy crawlies, he let out a small breath he had been holding in and hopped to catch up with the girl.

"I didn't say you did," he continued, "I was just trying to do my good deed for the night and save your sorry life!"

The boy grew frustrated by the dismissal of the blonde girl, how proud does she have to be to not even say thank you? He huffed, taking note to just stick to himself and worry about his own problems next time. How dare he try to impress the girl he caught sight of earlier, right? Sure she was pretty, but it seemed to him that was about where the enchantment stopped.

Nicole continued up the hill, still refusing to acknowledge him but secretly hiding her blush and embarrassment. In actuality, she was so awkward and ashamed of her intrusiveness that she just wanted to get away and not have to face the cute boy.

"Don't say thank you then! Fine with me, I'll just continue on with my night and let you find your way out of here on your-" but his rant was cut short when Nicole suddenly slipped on wet ground again and consequently fell back into him. He groaned when upon impact, she nearly caused him to roll down the hill with her. Thinking quickly and using all of his boyish strength, he found a sturdy branch to steady himself with and held the accident prone girl in his other arm. They both stood there trying to catch their breath. Nicole cursed herself for her clumsiness, knowing that she had truly made a fool of herself.

"Jeeze, is your name Jill or do you just enjoy climbing hills for sport?" he scoffed.

She repressed a laugh and a snotty remark, still too petrified to speak again. So instead, she silently allowed the red haired boy to pick her up and carry her up the hill this time around, thankful for the 'Jack' that had come to her rescue. Nicole looked the long ways back and noticed that he had been taking a small pathway through the trees she hadn't seen before.

Why was he being so kind to her even though he was clearly annoyed? And what was he doing down here in the first place?

* * *

 **Thank ya'll for reading! I should be working on the next chapter soon. Please review and follow if you feel like it! 3**


End file.
